Court of Conciliation and Arbitration

The Court was established in 1995 following the entry into force of the Convention of Conciliation and Arbitration within the CSCECSCE
Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe (later renamed to ‘OSCE’) and is based in Geneva. It aims to settle inter-State disputes submitted to it by States parties to the Convention through conciliation or arbitration. The procedures are also open to OSCE participating States that have not ratified the Convention, based on a bilateral or multilateral agreement between the States concerned. Sweden is the Depository State of the Convention.

The Court is not a permanent jurisdiction. The conciliation commission and arbitral tribunal are set up upon request by the parties to a dispute on an ad hoc basis. While the Court has links to other OSCE institutions and structures, it operates as an independent institution.

The Court offers two complementary tracks for dispute settlement: conciliation and arbitration. Both procedures are open to OSCE participating States that have not ratified the Convention, based on a bilateral or multilateral agreement between the States concerned.